What a great morning. What a
great morning. It's been a long time since I
have been so ministered to by the preaching of the gospel as
I have today. I travel a lot, as you know,
and preach most every day somewhere and seldom have the privilege
of sitting and hearing someone preach the gospel to me. and
it has done my heart good these three days. Brother Bruce asked
me this morning how long I'd been coming down here, and I
had to do a little thinking. The first time I came down, 1982,
Brother Henry Mahan and I came down for a meeting. So every
how many years that's been, y'all been putting up with me and loving
me and being kind to me, and I appreciate it. Some years ago,
I was in a meeting with Brother Donnie Bell and some other folks
over in Knoxville, Tennessee, And one of our dear friends who
was in the Church of Cherokee was asked to pray when we dismissed
for lunch. Brother Bill Carver, he's with
the Lord now. And Bill was a kindly, plain-spoken fellow. He got up
to pray, and he's praying for a good many things. And he said,
Lord, I thank you for giving us grace to love each other. I thank you for teaching me to
love Brother Don Fortner. Lord, you know he's a hard man
to love. And everybody said amen. Except me. But I appreciate you
loving me and taking care of your pastor, your love for the
gospel, the blessed fellowship God's given us. Open your Bibles
with me, if you will, to the book of Revelation. We live in a world of woe. and lamentation and sorrow. And
we're going to a world where soon our God shall wipe away
all tears from our eyes. But he does much in the process
along the way between here and there to dry our tears. Look here in Revelation chapter
5 and verse 5. One of the elders saith unto
me, weep not. Weep not. We spend far too much time weeping,
feeling sorry for ourselves. and lamentation and woe for a
people to whom God has said, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. For a people to whom God says,
I have chosen you. We spend far too much time feeling
sorry for ourselves and weeping and lamentation and sorrow for
a people redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and forgiven
of all sin. We spend far too much time in
lamentation and woe, feeling sorry for ourselves, grumbling
and complaining for a people who have been called by God the
Holy Spirit to whom God says, I have made you for myself. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. We spend far too much time pitying
ourselves, feeling sorry for ourselves, weeping, complaining,
and lamentation and woe for a people to whom God declares, I will
not turn away from thee to do thee good. He's been doing me
good all the days of my life. He was doing me good thousands
of years before I came into this world. He's doing me good now,
and he will do me good tomorrow. He has never done anything to
me, with me, or about me that is not good. He has done all
things well. We spend far too much time here
lamenting and complaining and groaning and mourning and crying
and feeling sorry for ourselves about the circumstances in which
we live for a people to whom God has said, all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. We spend far too much time weeping
over the things of vanity. But what's that? Everything you can
see and touch and feel with these hands. When Solomon wrote Vanity of
Vanities, all this vanity sent the preacher, he wasn't writing
as a depressed man who needed some value. He was writing by
divine inspiration. He said, I've learned this. Everything
here is vanity. We live for eternity. We do not. We do not. Well, Brother Don,
can you give us some reasons? No, but God can, and he has. Hold your Bibles open here, Revelation
chapter four. Revelation chapter four. I want us to look at these two
chapters together, Revelation four and five. Now let me help
you when you read the book of Revelation. It begins with this
statement, the revelation of Jesus Christ. This last closing
book of inspiration is all about Jesus Christ. It's not a book
about prophecy. It's not about the end time.
It's not about Russia and China and Israel and Egypt and America. It's not about that stuff. It's
not about the current events that we're experiencing now or
those we'll experience tomorrow. It is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. John receives this revelation
of Jesus Christ in a series of seven visions. They're given
throughout the book each of the visions the first was given beginning
in chapter 1 going through the end of chapter 3 and each vision
is begins with the first advent of our Savior and concludes with
the second advent of our Savior. So each vision that John has
is a picture of the whole gospel age in which we live from the
coming of Christ to the second coming of Christ. And the message
of each vision is the same. In all seven visions, this is
what God the Holy Spirit told his servant John. And this is
what he told John to tell us. We're gonna win. We're going to win. It is a declaration
of the sure and certain triumph of Jesus Christ and his church
by the gospel. Everything is going to turn out
all right. Did you get that? Everything
is going to turn out all right because God has so arranged it
and God will so perform it. All right, let's look at the
second vision that John had. After this, after this, the book
of Revelation opens with John seeing the Lord Jesus, that marvelous
picture of our Savior, that same one that Solomon saw. John sees
him here. He sees him walking in the midst
of his churches. Christ is always in the midst
of his churches on the earth. And to those churches, he has
given angels, gospel preachers. And as he walks in the midst
of his churches throughout the ages, his servants, these gospel
preachers, are in his hand to guide them, direct them, protect
them, and use them. After this, John says, after
I heard the Lord's message to his churches, and he gives those
seven letters to the seven churches. They are not letters written
to different churches in different parts of the world at different
times. They were written to literal churches in John's day, yes,
but they were written to you and me. They were written to
God's church in every age, written to Fairmont Grace Church in Sylacauga,
Alabama today. And Sovereign Grace Church in
Newcastle, Indiana today. And Grace Baptist Church in Danville,
Kentucky today. And the message is a seven-fold
message. First, he addresses the church
in Ephesus concerning their first love. Ever children of God seek to
walk in the fresh knowledge of the ravishing love of the Son
of God. O Spirit of God, teach me every
day of my life to walk in the fresh experience of the ravishing
love of the Son of God. Let me never, let me never, let
me never take for granted his complete devotion to me. So complete that he sacrificed
himself for me. So complete that he gives me
all himself. His second message is to Smyrna. Be thou faithful unto death. Be thou faithful unto death. Someone said recently, I don't
want to do anything, I'll let the young folks take care of
that. You ain't too old to serve God. You haven't lived long enough
to quit serving his people. You haven't lived long enough
to quit doing for the cause of Christ. Well, I've done my part. You did what? You did what? Until you've done everything
you can do with your last breath, you've not done your part. No,
no. Be thou faithful unto death.
And then he warns us concerning Balaam and the Nicolaitans at
Pergamos. Because God's church is always
confronted with the doctrine of Balaam. And it's a simple doctrine. It's
called compromise. Learn to get along. Learn to
get along with other religions. Learn to find the points of agreement
and get along with folks who hate God. Don't you dare. Don't you dare. Don't you dare. If everybody in Sylacauga, Alabama,
who has a sign out in front of the church that says Baptist
or Christian, and they come to go to church on Sunday morning,
if they all worship God, sell all these buildings, build one,
and all get together, they're not a reason. They're
not a reason under God's shining sun for two people who know God
not to be able to walk together. There's not a reason for that.
There's not a reason for that. If folks down the road there
believe and worship and serve God, you go join them. Beware
of Balaam. Because Balaam will teach you
to mix the worship of God with the worship of idols, don't you
dare. Beware of the Nicolaitans. They'll teach you that you don't
need to take care of how you live in this world for God's
honor. Beware of those things. He mourns
us in writing the Thyatira of Jezebel. These folks at Thyatira had embraced
the depths of Satan. You mean they practiced witchcraft
and astrology and all that stuff? No, no. They simply began to
mingle works religion with grace religion. They began to mingle
law and works. And the Lord tells us, now that
which you have already, hold fast till I come. What's that? Keep my works. Keep my works. Every time somebody comes along
and tells you to start looking at your work, push that aside,
keep my works. Keep my works. He writes to Sarnas
and urges us, you have a name that you live but you're dead.
Be watchful. Strengthen that which is remaining. Remember, remember what I've
done for you. Remember my works. He writes
to Philadelphia and he says, hold fast that which you have
so that no man take your crown. Hold fast the doctrine of Christ.
Hold fast Jesus Christ and him crucified. Let nobody move you
away from the simplicity of faith in Christ. and then beware of
the terrible tendency, the terrible tendency, the horrid terrible
tendency we have toward lukewarmness and indifference. I'm ashamed of myself that I
can get so excited about politics or football games or the color
of tie I'm gonna wear. So excited about that that I
get my emotions stirred about such things. And the gospel of Christ goes
in one ear and out the other. I read it in this book and it
just, my eyes just glaze over. or I think of God's sacrifice
on my behalf, God's wondrous grace, and my soul doesn't burst
with joy and gratitude and thanksgiving. It's called lukewarmness. It's
called indifference. Beware of that. Beware of that. You men and women, most of you,
or at least close to being as old as I am. I'm being very nice. I know most of you are a lot
older. But you've been married for a
while, and you tend to take a husband or wife for granted. And the
relationship gets cold if you do. Don't dare. Don't dare. It's too precious. It's too dear. Don't dare. Let
that lady know you love her. Let her know you're thankful
for her. Let that lady know you love it. You admire it. You're thankful
for it. And do it all the time. Do it all the time. I've been
married to this lady for 44 years. You know what she's never told
me to do? She never said, I wish you'd quit telling me you love
me. She never said that to me. except it doesn't matter whether
I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which happened to be
one of my favorite meals, or whether I've had steak and potatoes
and homemade cake and ice cream. When I get up from the table,
I say, thank you, honey. That's good. How come? Well, she does
that every day, several times a day, wherever you are. Yeah,
she does, does it with delight. I don't ever have to tell her
to do it. Well, is that what she's supposed to do? Well, at
the risk of being stoned in this age, yeah, that's what she's
supposed to do. That's what she's supposed to do. And I'm sure
thankful she does. And I want her to know it. Beware
of lukewarmness and indifference to God our Savior. Beware of
lukewarmness and indifference in the things concerning our
Redeemer. Now, watch this. After this, after all this counsel,
In verse 18, verse 20, the promise of verse 21, he says, I counsel
thee, chapter three, verse 18, I counsel thee to buy of me gold,
the gold of my grace. Well, I thought we already had
that. We do, keep buying it. Tried in the fire, it's proved
the test of time, that thou mayest be rich in white raiment, perfect
righteousness, that thou mayest be clothed and that thy shame,
the shame of thy nakedness, your sin, do not appear, and anoint
thy eyes with the eyes of the gospel, that thou mayest see. Verse 21, behold, I stand at
the door and knock. I came in here this morning,
sat down, folks started coming in, and I sat right there for
a few minutes, and folks settled down, I quit visiting and talking
and I heard the Savior knocking. And I opened to him and I said,
Lord, come in. Please come in and sup with me.
Let me sup with you. And you know what he did? He
came in and fed me. And you know what he does when
he feeds his people? He feeds himself. You know, if
any man will open, I'll come in and sup with him and he with
me. When you come to the house of
God, that's what he's talking about. Anybody in there, anybody
in there want to hear from me? Is there anybody in there who
wants to see me? Anybody in there who wants to
feed upon the bread of life and drink of living water? Open the
door to me and I'll come in. That's what it said in verse
41. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my
throne. To him that overcometh This is
the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Christ,
the object of our faith, looking to him, him that overcometh.
How great that he may sit down right here with me in my throne,
even as I overcame and sat down with my father in his throne.
I'll give him to sit on the throne of the universe with me. Wow,
what a promise. Let's look at the rest of this
couple of chapters. Verse 1. After this I looked, and behold,
a door was opened in heaven. I know who that is, don't you? Our Savior said, I am the door.
He said, I'm the door. John said, I looked, and there's
a door open in heaven. Oh sinner, hear me. There's a
door of access to God for sinners like you and me. A door by which
you may enter into God in the holy of holies like the high
priest of old. You may enter into the divine
presence and find acceptance in your soul with God. And that
door is Jesus Christ the Lord. And it's open. And the first
voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with
me. Now, I've got some friends who
can play some musical instruments. One of our fellows last week
played clarinet, and he'd play a verse, sing a verse, play a
verse, sing a verse, and man, it was good. But I couldn't hear
that clarinet talking, could you? I couldn't hear it. I have a
friend who plays a trumpet, and man alive, he played a trumpet.
But I've never heard that trumpet talk. What's he talking about
here? There was a trumpet in the Old
Testament scriptures. It was called the Jubilee Trumpet.
It was sounded once every 50 years. That meant that a fella
only heard it once in his life. He only heard it one time. He
had never heard it before. He had never heard it before.
But when the Jubilee Trumpet sounded, everybody who needed
to hear what that trumpet said understood every word exactly. It meant that every debt's been
paid. All slaves are set free. All property is restored. All
obligations have been met. What's that talking about? It's
talking about the gospel of God's grace. That's what it's talking
about. John said, I saw a door open in heaven and the first
thing I heard was the voice, the voice of a trumpet speaking. Oh, you come to God by faith
in Christ Jesus, hearing the gospel of God's free grace. And
here's what God says, come up hither. Come up hither. God Almighty sends his servants
to proclaim the word of his grace. And he says, come up hither.
Come unto me, all you that labor and are heaven-laden, and I'll
give you rest. And I'll show you the things, now watch this.
I love these words. Things which must be. Must be. There are some things
which must be hereafter. What's that, pastor? Well, let
me give you a very broad sweeping statement. Whatever comes to
pass hereafter must be hereafter because God ordained it before
the world was made. But John's talking about something
specific, something special. He's talking about things concerning
you and me. He's talking about things concerning
His elect, His redeemed, His church, His people. Things concerning
every sinner who comes to God by the door of Christ Jesus.
Believing the gospel of God's free grace. Here are some things
that must be hereafter. Not might be, not should be,
not I hope will be. Things that must be. Look at
verse two. And immediately I was in the
Spirit. Immediately. When? When God called
me. When God called me. When God
calls the sinner by his grace, he doesn't call offering life,
he calls giving life. When God calls the sinner by
his grace, he doesn't call giving him an opportunity for life,
he calls bringing life. So that when God calls immediately,
the man's in the spirit. He's born again by the Spirit
of God so that we no longer live in the flesh but in the Spirit.
Read Romans 8, the 8th chapter. We no longer walk after the flesh
but after the Spirit. These charismatic fools. And
I chose my word on purpose. Charismatic fools. These folks
talk about speaking in tongues having gifts, and walling around
on the floor, and acting crazy, calling it Christianity. That's
being in the Spirit. No, no, no, no, no, no. Believing
God, that's being in the Spirit. Walking with Christ, that's being
in the Spirit. Faith in Christ, that's being
in the Spirit. Immediately, I was in the Spirit, and behold, what's
the first thing the fellow sees when he's born again? What's
the first thing a fella says? I hear fellas, they talk a lot. Boy, God saved me. I had a great experience, great,
and then I began to see that God's on the throne. First thing God shows anybody
about himself is he's on the throne. Todd, you never knew
who God was until you saw him on the throne. That's exactly
right. That's exactly right. First thing
I saw was a throne, a throne. The first thing God makes folks
know about himself is that he's God. He's God. And he insists that you worship
him as God. Now watch what it says about
him. Behold, a throne was set, fixed, established in heaven. And I love this next word. And
one, sat on the throne. One sat on the throne. Lester comes home in the evening,
and he sits down in his easy chair, and he sips some tea,
and he flips on the gun smoke, watches it. Talks a little bit
to Bobby, get a little something to eat. He goes back and sits
down, has some more tea. And then all of a sudden, he's
just sitting there easy, quiet, hears something outside. See the car's driving up, both
sides of the house. Man, he jumps up, because he's excited. Something's
insecure. Something's not right. And so
he no longer sits. Will you listen to me? God Almighty
always sits on His throne. He sits in the ease and serenity
of total sovereignty. Nothing ever disturbs Him. Nothing
ever excites Him. Nothing ever makes him anxious.
Nothing ever causes him to wring his hand and wonder what's gonna
happen next. Oh no, he sits on his throne
for he's God. Oh, God's teach me to trust you
as he who sits on his throne. Look at verse three. And he that
sat was to look upon like a jasper, bright and glorious and assorted
Red, red. And there was a rainbow round
about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. Several years ago, Brother Bruce
and I were up preaching for Brother John Mitchell up in Great Falls,
Montana. And we went out and went fishing one day. They called
it a floater. We took rafts, several of us
did, floating down the Missouri River for miles and miles and
miles fishing. And it was misty rain, cold all day. Kind of a
miserable day except for the company. But the fish weren't
biting. We didn't catch any fish. But
we had good company and started home. Packed up the rafts, got
in the trucks. And I'd never seen anything like this in my
life. You remember this? We drove through a full spectrum
rainbow Looked like it sat down on this side of the road. It
touched down that side of the road. And we drove right through
that thing. Man, it's beautiful. I knew what I'd preach on next
day. Revelation chapter four, verse three. That rainbow. John said, I saw a rainbow about
the throne. Like unto an emerald. Emerald
was the stone that had Judah's name engraved on it on the high
priest's breastplate. Brother Donnie talked to us about
it last night. God sits on this throne. encircling the throne. All the way around that throne.
Look at it from any position. It's a rainbow. A bow that God set in the sky
for Noah, by which he said to Noah, I will never destroy the
earth with water of flood again. I've often thought, Brother Noah,
he's out One afternoon, late in the evening, his wife's getting
some supper, and he sees a cloud come up in the sky. And I can
almost picture the terror in that man's mind. Because I expect
no one's a lot like me. He didn't have to believe God.
And he sees the cloud get darker and darker. And the sun is hitting. And he begins to hear the thunder
roll. and the lightning flash, and
he's already burned up all the firewood on the ark. And he said,
God's fixing to do it again. And God sends a little rain and
the sun comes out and sees the bowl. He said, Noah, you idiot.
God said he wouldn't do it, and there's his bowl. Everything
that comes from God's throne comes according to the bowl of
covenant mercy. Will you get that? Everything
that comes to you, everything that comes to me, doesn't matter
whether it's personal pain, deep sorrow, great bereavement, heartache,
doesn't matter what it is. Doesn't matter whether riches
or poverty, hunger and thirst, or great wealth, it doesn't matter
what it is. Whatever comes to you, comes to you through the
throne of God's covenant mercy. Brother Darrell, this thing you're
going through right now with your dear wife, God didn't do that to you. He did it for you. He sent it to you because it's
better for you. Can you get that? But Brother
Don, it still hurts. I know that. I know that. It still hurts, but oh my soul,
how it dries away the tears. My father has done this for me.
Now, read on. Next we see John speak in verse
four. Around about the throne were
four and 20 seats. Four and 20 seats. And upon the
seats I saw four and 20 elders. Every chair was full, not an
empty seat in the house. Let's talk about the whole Israel
of God. The 144,000 described in this
book, all of God's church, all of God's elect, the whole New
Jerusalem. I saw 24 seats, and I saw 24
elders sitting upon the seats. They were clothed with white
raiment, robed in perfect righteousness, and they had on their heads crowns
of gold. They overcame by the blood of
the Lamb. We hear a lot of quirk about crowns. If you've got one
of those Bibles that's been messed with, you'll have notes about
crowns and rewards. Oh, isn't that wonderful? If
you're a good Christian, you're gonna have so many crowns on
your head, you'll be lopsided. You won't hardly be able to stand
up. And if you're not real good, then you won't have any stars
in your crown. No, no, no, no, no. What foolishness. The scriptures speak of crowns
that God gives his people. He promises a crown of life as
a reward of faithfulness to the Redeemer. And it tells us that
his people are faithful. That's what it said, isn't it?
To the faithful in Christ Jesus. To them that are called saints,
faithful in Christ Jesus. He gives a crown of righteousness
promised to all those who love Christ and his appearing. And
if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned.
God's people love him. He gives a crown of rejoicing.
That crown of rejoicing awaits those who seek God's salvation.
He gives a crown of glory, the reward of union with Christ.
And he gives an incorruptible crown that shall adorn the brows
of all who are raised in incorruption. But those crowns all speak of
just one crown. One crown that's given alike
to all God's elect. In that day, the prophet said,
the Lord of hosts shall be for a crown of glory and for a diadem
of beauty unto the residue of the people. You see, Christ is
the crown we seek. Christ is the glory we desire. Christ is the reward we want.
And Christ we shall have, all that he is, in all his fullness,
in all his glory. Look at verse five. And out of
the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. What's
that talking about? Out of the throne proceeded lightnings
and thunderings and voices talking. For of him and through him and
to him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. Proceeding from the throne, from
him who sits on the throne, through the bow of his covenant, to you,
his chosen, are all things of him, that's the source, through
him, that's the means of accomplishment, to him, that's the end. And there were seven lamps of
fire burning before the throne, perfect holiness, which are the
seven spirits of God. You mean God has seven spirits? No, no. Seven represents completion
and perfection. So that coming from this throne
and him that sat on the throne with his lightnings and thunderings
and voices are lamps of fire, light, perfect holiness. And the seven spirits of God,
the perfection of God's the Holy Spirit, verse six. And before
the throne was a sea of glass like a crystal. I don't know, there are a lot
of opinions about what a sea of glass represents, but I think I've got some scripture
for this. There was a, sitting in front
of the tabernacle, as you came to the tabernacle, there was
a sea there. What? A sea of brass. in which those
who did business with God must bathe themselves. And then Zechariah
tells us that when God pours out his spirit and causes men
to call upon him, spirit of grace and supplications, immediately
there is a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. Oh,
what a sea Christ is for us to bathe our souls in. Before this
great august throne is this sea of glass like the crystal. And in the midst of the throne
and round about the throne were four beasts, four living creatures,
full of eyes before and behind. Now you see these living creatures,
these four beasts, Isaiah saw them as cherubs. Ezekiel saw
them as living creatures, beasts. They're seen in many places in
the scriptures. Who are these? Who are these?
Most of the time in this book, not always, but most of the time
in this book, when the scripture speaks about angels, such as
those angels, those cherubs Isaiah saw, it's talking about preachers.
God's preachers are the angels of the churches we saw in Revelation
chapter 1. These living creatures, these beasts, are gospel preachers,
God's prophets and preachers, gifted with spiritual wisdom
and grace and knowledge. The Lord said, I will give my
church pastors after my own heart who will feed you with knowledge
and with understanding. Now look at verse seven. And
the first beast was like a lion, bold. I'm gonna tell you something
about God's people. God's servants. They're bold. They're bold. Bold. Well, if anything, I want a humble
preacher. You ever find a humble preacher, Joe? You found one
bold as a lion. It's exactly right. It's exactly right. People
have ideas of what things are in their own notions. And people
get this idea that humility is a picture of, what's that fellow
named Gandhi who wore those dirty looking white robes and walked
around like this all the time? Oh, he's so humble. Not proud,
don't you see how humble he is? That's not humility. I'll tell
you what humility is. Humility is Moses going into
the mightiest king on the earth. the man who ruled the greatest
empire the world had ever known, and saying to him, God Almighty
sent me to tell you, let my people go. Well, who is God? You're fixing to find out, boy.
That's called humility. Boldness. Bold as a lion. The next beast, the second beast,
was like a calf. Strong, strong. Strong, made
strong by grace, strong in faith, strong in labor. And the third
beast, the third preacher, had the face of a man, because God's
servants, strong, yes, they're strong, bold, yes, they're bold,
but they're full of compassion. They're men, men like yourselves.
And the fourth beast, like a flying eagle, soaring into heaven, seeking
God's word for you, seeking direction for you. And the four beasts,
each of them had six wings, six wings, with two he covers his
face, with two he covers his feet, with two he flies, showing
humility, readiness to serve God. He had six wings about him,
and they were full of eyes, full of wisdom, God-given wisdom.
Within, eyes in their souls, wisdom planted in them by God's
grace, and they rest not day and night, They labor in the
word and in the doctrine, in the work of the gospel. Faithful
men do. They labor in the word. Paul
urges the church at Thessalonica to esteem God's servants, those
who are over you in the Lord, for their labor in the word. God's servants labor in the word,
in the gospel, saying, holy, holy, holy, speaking of the thrice
holy God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Lord God Almighty. Who is he? Which is, and which
was, and is, and is to come. The triune, self-existent, eternal,
delivering, omnipotent God. These living creatures, these
preachers of the gospel, these angels of the churches lead God's
saints to worship God on the throne. Look at verse 9. And
when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that
sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever. Then, as these
living creatures lead God's saints to the throne, then the four
and 20 elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and
worship him that liveth forever and ever. This is what God's servants seek
to do. Oh God, let us lead your people
to your throne. and see your son and bow our
hearts before you in adoration and worship. And as soon as they
did, they cast their crowns before the throne. No sooner shall the
Lord set the crown of glory on your head. Then the believing
soul gladly takes the crown and casts it at the Savior's feet,
saying, nod unto us, O Lord. Nod unto us. Unto thy name be
glory forever and forever, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Why? Why? Why do we insist that
he get all the glory? Because he chose us. He redeemed
us. He called us. He kept us. He
brought us to glory. It's all his doing, not ours.
We'll cast our crowns before his throne because we have a
solemn reverence for him. Because we're filled with a deep
sense of sincere humility and gratitude before him and we acknowledge
by the grace of God I am what I am. I'm nothing and I've done
nothing. This is all his doing. In short,
we'll cast our crowns before the throne because we love him
intentionally. Brother Larry, unless I'm deceived,
I want Him to increase and I want to decrease. Unless I'm deceived,
I want that. And that passage in John 3.30,
your pastor read earlier, could be translated a number of ways
and all of them are accurate. It could be He must increase
and I must decrease. All three are exactly right. We want that now with all my
soul. When we get done and He gets
done with us, we are sealed with Christ in glory. We can't begin
to imagine what a delight it shall be to our souls to give
him all praise and honor and glory. Oh, what shall it be to worship
Christ as we desire to worship him? Now look at verse 11. This
is what it said. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things. You created everything. But read
the next line. And for thy pleasure they are
and were created. What? You mean, Brother Lewis,
the triune God who in the beginning created the heaven and the earth?
And he did. Continues to create everything
that comes to pass on this earth? Everything? This is what it said. Behold, I create light and I
make darkness. I create peace and I make evil. Is that what it said? Isaiah 45 verse 7. It's exactly
what it said. You mean, Brother Don, God continues
as the sovereign creator So to rule all the affairs of the universe,
that everything men and angels and devils and the ungodly in
heaven, earth and hell think and do is God's work. Exactly
so. How does he do that? For thy
pleasure, they are and were created. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain.
Brother Bruce mentioned that fellow in the White House. I
pray for him too. I pray he'll soon be gone. But I'll tell you what he is.
I'll tell you what he is. All he is, all that Satan in
hell is, All that the demons of hell are, all that wicked
men on this earth are, doesn't matter what power they have,
all they are is hammers and saws by which God accomplishes his
purpose. For me. Sasha, you took some hammer and
saws, didn't you? He's in God's hand, doing what
God intends, for God's pleasure, for me. Read up, chapter five. Now John sees something else.
And I saw in the right hand of him the triune God, the holy,
holy, holy Lord God, the triune Jehovah that sat on the throne.
I saw a book written within and on the backside, a book. Try to picture it. Large, huge volume. Just picture
it. He said, is this a literal thing?
No. It's a picture. It's a vision. God doesn't need books. He speaks
to accommodate our puny brains. I saw this huge volume written. And it's written on the cover,
on the spine, on the back, on the edges. And then it's sealed
with seven seals. It's a perfect book. And it's
sealed with a perfect purpose. by the perfect God. Now watch
this. Sealed with seven seals. And I saw, chapter five, verse
two, a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy
to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? Who is it
who can come and show us God's purpose? Who can come and show
us the mystery of God's eternal decrees? Who can come and show
us everything God intends and God's purpose and God will do?
Who can crack this book open and make us understand it? The
book of God's purpose. Verse three. And no man in heaven
nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book,
neither to look thereof. We could look at it forever,
it'd still be closed book. And I wept much because no man
was found worthy, fit, meet, able to open and read the book,
neither to look thereof. And one of the elders saith unto
me, weep not. There's a subject. Stop your
crying, John. Stop your crying. Oh, I just
don't understand how this could be good. I don't understand God's purpose
in this. Stop crying. Quit your blubbering. Why? Watch what it says. Behold. Watch this now. Behold. The old publishers used to first
start printing books. They used a lot of artwork. And
they used to draw this in the margin. Pick up a real old book. If you can't read the language
in it, you'll see that. You know what that means? Pay
attention. Look at this. Now, this is important. That's
what this is. Behold, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, hath, before the book was ever written. Before the book was ever opened,
the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, he who is
David's Lord, out of whom David came, who came through David's
lords, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he hath prevailed, lions usually do, to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof. That is before the world began.
Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, our surety, struck hands with
the Father, and the Father gave Him everything. The Father hath
put all things in the hands of the Son, that all men should
honor the Son. Now, it came to be demonstrated
in time. After our Lord had finished His
work on the earth, He said, Father, restore to me. Is that
what it said, Bruce? the glory that I had with you
before the world was. So that Christ now seated on
the throne has the reigns of the universe in his hands manifestly,
but he always did. He's the lion who prevailed from
eternity to open the book. Look at verse six. And behold,
I beheld and lo, in the midst of the throne, in the midst of
the four beasts, in the midst of the elders, John's saying, I saw heaven and
all the glory that awaits us when everything's done, and I
saw God sitting on the throne, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I saw a throne and a rainbow, and I saw elders about the throne,
and I saw God's preachers about the throne, and right in the
middle, preeminently glorious in it all, stood a lamb. I could see coming up out of
that throne, A lamb standing. Here's the center of everything.
A lamb standing as it had been slain, having seven horns. Seven horns. Now I'm a city boy,
and I don't pretend to know a whole lot about country stuff, but
I'll tell you what I've observed. As a general rule, animals with
horns get their way. As a general rule. Got horns,
you get your way. Here is a lamb with horns, seven
of them. Perfect strength, perfect power
to always have his way. And seven eyes, perfect wisdom,
perfect knowledge, understanding everything, which are the spirit
of our God. Read on. The seven spirits of
God sent forth into all the world, verse seven. and he took the
book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. Now,
hold your hand here until we're at chapter 10. Get a picture. And I saw another mighty angel
come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was
upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet
pillars of fire. That's just how John described
the Lord Jesus in chapter one, isn't it? This angel now, he
comes down from heaven. He's got feet like pillars of
fire. He's got it. He's got a rainbow
around his head. He's got a rainbow around his
head. Where'd that come from? He's standing up in the middle
of the throne, encircled with the bow of God's covenant. Boy,
this angel's our Lord Jesus. He's the angel of the covenant.
That's what we told him. And he had in his hand a little
book. A little book. Open. Just like this. I wish I had
a little book up here. I wish I had a little one. Here,
I got one. He had a little book open. A little book. Right here. Well, wait a minute. This is
that same book we saw in chapter 5. That great, huge book. That book written within and
without, on the backside, sealed with seven seals. The book written
down enriches and contains everything that ever shall be from the earth. Now that's a book. That's a book. That's a huge volume. You couldn't
think about fitting that book into hundreds of buildings the
size of this. That's a huge problem. It is. It is. Well, man, who can control
all that? In his hand, one of Bruce's,
it's just a tiny little book. It's just a tiny little book.
It's no trouble to him. He's God. He's God. What's he
doing now? Look at the picture. He had a
book in his hand, a little book. And he set his right foot upon
the sea and his left foot upon the earth. And he cried with
a loud voice, there's a lion, the lion of the tribe of Judah,
who's prevailed to open the book, as the lion roared. And when
he cried, the seven thunders, we heard proceeding from the
throne of God, uttered their voices. And 13 was, pick up the paper,
and you'll find out. Just read it. Pick up all the
papers in the universe. You'll find out what the purpose
was. I wonder what God's purpose is going to be tomorrow. Hang
on. He's fixing to turn the page. That's why I told you to pick
up the Bible and find out. Whatever comes to pass, that's
his purpose. And it is just him turning the page of the book. What's the Lord Jesus doing?
Why, he's just doing what he said he'd do from eternity. He's
fulfilling his purpose from eternity. All right, back in chapter five,
verse eight. And when he had taken the book,
he didn't ask permission for it, he earned the right to take
it. The four beasts and the four and 20 elders fell down before
the Lamb, having every one of them hearts and golden vials
full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. He has his saints before him with hearts
and vials full of sweet incense, sweet smelling aroma to God,
which are the prayers of his saints. But not everything I've ever
prayed for has been such sweet incense to God. Sometimes he
says no. Matter of fact, most of the time,
he says no. Take a little child. Child says,
Daddy, I want that. You say, no, honey, you don't
want that. You don't want that. That'll hurt you. You don't want
that. Oh, but Daddy, I got to have
that. It's so nice. No, that'll hurt you. You don't need that.
And you come along next year, I sure would like to have that.
But you know if they eat that, they're going to get sick. No, honey,
that'll hurt you. You can't eat that. But all the
other children eat it. but it'll hurt you, not hurt
them. They can have all they want, but it'll hurt you. You
can't have it. You can't have it. And most of the things we
want will hurt us. And he won't let you have anything
that'll hurt you. He just won't let you have it.
What's this talking about then? Well, it's talking about our
real prayers. What is it you really want? What
is it you really want? What is it that God puts in your
heart to seek? Relentlessly, all the time. How
is it he teaches his disciples to pray? Our Father, which art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name. God, glorify yourself. That's what I want. Thy kingdom come. Save your people. Thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. That's what I really want. That's what God's people really
want. And you know what's gonna happen when God has wrapped everything
up so this is it? His name will be honored. His
people will be saved, his kingdom filled, his will done perfectly. Look at verse nine. And they sung a new song saying,
thou art worthy to take the book, to open the seals thereof, for
thou was slain, thou was slain. I wish I could say this in such
a way as to make folks hear what I'm saying. I wish all Spirit
of God calls these people here to hear what you reveal here. The whole of the glory of God. The whole of the revelation of
God's glory. The whole worthiness of the triune
God of our prayers is wrapped up in redemption accomplished
by the death of our Savior. Thou art worthy. You alone are
worthy to be God, our Savior, because you were slain. And having
been slain, you redeemed us. Now watch what it said, out of.
Redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of, out of. This generation needs to hear
that. Didn't redeem us along with everybody who went to hell.
There is no sense at all in which this book teaches that Christ
died for folks who are in hell. That is to declare that Jesus
Christ is a failure in that which is the climax glory of God. They're not a worse blasphemy
in the world than to suggest that Christ died for men who
perish anyway. Oh no, he's worthy because he
redeemed us. He bought us with his blood and
delivered us out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. Verse 10. And has made us to
our God kings and priests. Kings and priests. Kings, every saved sinner, we're
called a royal priesthood. Kings and priest. Kings who reign
with Christ. That's right. He reigns in our
souls over the lust of our flesh so that we don't behave as we
would otherwise. and he reigns on the throne of
glory and we with him accomplishing our good, his glory according
to his will everywhere. And priests, priests, kings and
priests. Priests are folks who live for
God in the holy place and do business in the holy place all
the time. Now, it's wonderful and it's
right that we set aside a time to read and study this Word.
It's wonderful and right that we set aside a time to meet public
worship and meet with God's saints. Please don't misunderstand me.
It's wonderful and right that we set aside a time for prayer.
But God's people live in the presence of God and do business
all the time in the Holy garments, the white linen robe, and the
white linen breeches of the priest in the Holy of Holies. When that
priest went into the Holy of Holies and made sacrifice to
God on the day of Passover, do you know what he did? People
say, well, he had those bells and pomegranates around his robe
so that if he died any man dropped in and they could hear the bells
and pomegranates, they'd know he's dead. No, he pulled that
robe off the way he went in. He never took that gorgeous robe
that was made by the hands of men into the Holy of Holies.
He pulled that gorgeous robe off and put on the holy living
promise. Living man, made from man alone
by God's hand. Perfect righteousness by which
God always accepts us and would live continually. looking to
God our Savior, worshiping and serving Him, trusting Him, calling
on His name, seeking Him for everything. Kings and priests
unto God, verse 11. And I beheld and heard the voice
of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and the
elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000, and
thousands of thousands. That's talking about all the
chosen angels, all the elect of God, all the redeemed, all
the called, all the saints, all who believe. And this is what
they said. Worthy is the lamb that was slain. Christ is worthy
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing. But God's elect aren't the only
ones who give him such praise. No. Look at verse 13. And every
creature, every creature. What? Every creature. Every creature. Little maggots
in the rotting meat. Every creature. The great giant
eagle soaring in the sky. Every creature. Herod ordering that the firstborn
son of every household be slain. Every creature, every creature. Herod ordering the murder of
God's servant Stephen. Every creature, every creature.
Every event, every event. The atrocities of a Hitler, Mussolini,
Stalin. Every creature. Wicked man, righteous
man. Every creature. Every event in
history. Every creature. Everything good
and pleasant and painful and adverse. Every creature. Watch
this now. Every creature which is in heaven and on earth and in hell. I reckon that's what it means
by under the earth, don't you? Every creature, and such as are in
the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, blessing,
and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth on the
throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. Everything that has been, is,
and shall be, shall redeem to the praise and honor and glory
of the Lamb. Weep not. Weep not. Verse 14. And the four beasts
said, amen. That's just what we wanted. Oh God, that's what I've been
wanting all my life. Oh, that's what I've been waiting
for. That's what I've been, amen. And the four and 20 elders fell
down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever, amen.